


Right By Your Side

by Pippinpaddleopsicopolis (Barnable)



Series: Together, We Are An Ocean [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Day Four: Hair, Gen, Gentleness, Hair Braiding, Katara (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Light Angst, Pre-Canon, Sibling Love, Sokka (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Water Siblings Week 2020, they are both very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:29:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26549770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barnable/pseuds/Pippinpaddleopsicopolis
Summary: When Katara sits down in front of her brother, he knows what she needs without a word. But that doesn't mean they can't have a soft conversation too.
Relationships: Katara & Sokka (Avatar)
Series: Together, We Are An Ocean [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933663
Comments: 6
Kudos: 67





	Right By Your Side

After so many years of watching each other’s backs, Sokka and Katara had their own language.

It wasn’t a verbal language, but something unspoken. They had a way of communicating with each other using nothing more than gestures and goofy expressions, some of which no one else would ever understand. Many of those were references to inside jokes, but the one Katara utilized that day wasn’t anything humorous, just asking for a moment of company.

Katara sat down in front of Sokka without a word, her gaze immediately turning to the fire in front of them. Sokka didn’t need her to speak to understand what she was asking for, and simply took the tie from her hand before readjusting himself in his spot. He held his hand out for Katara’s comb, immediately pulling her hair back and dragging the item through it once she passed it over.

He could have said something, asked why Katara was asking for him to do her hair that day, but he opted to keep his mouth shut. It was better to let the moment happen in silence; their hair blowing in the cold breeze and the fire crackling quietly in front of them. The soft bustle of the tribe still happened all around them, but it wasn’t louder than the gentle moment they shared.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” asked Sokka quietly, never once stopping the movement of the comb through Katara’s hair. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, but I’m always here to listen.”

It wasn’t always by choice, his constant availability, but it was a fact he couldn’t be rid of. Ever since the men left for the war, Sokka was the only boy left even close to his age, and there wasn’t much for him to do when he wasn’t working. Which he didn’t do as often as he would’ve liked, of course, because while he thought of himself as the big man of the tribe, the women were insanely capable and handled all the men’s duties without fault.

Katara simply nodded in response to Sokka’s question, allowing him to continue with what he was doing. He took the silence as an answer that she wasn’t interested in discussing whatever was bothering her, and again, he didn’t say a thing about it. Sokka understood better than anyone that sometimes Katara just needed the quiet company, and he didn’t want to interrupt the moment if that was what she needed.

“Do you think Dad will ever come home?” asked Katara quietly.

The question threw him off completely, and he froze where he sat with the comb in her hair. “Yeah. Yeah, I know he will. He has to.”

It was a lie. An absolute, blatant lie. Sokka had no idea what would happen, or if they would ever be able to see their dad again. Every day he wished he could see them sailing into shore, and every night he feared that something horrible happened and they would never be able to come home. But he wasn’t going to tell Katara that. He wasn’t going to tell her that he cried himself to sleep, that he kicked himself for letting them go, that he blamed himself for what happened.

“I just miss them a lot.” She didn’t have to say who she was talking about for him to know that it wasn’t the whole fleet of men. “Don’t get me wrong, I love it when you braid my hair for me, but… it’s not the same as when Mom used to do it. Or even Dad. He was so bad at it, do you remember?”

“Yeah.” Sokka laughed and slid the comb back through her hair, allowing the smile to make its way up his cheeks. “After Mom died, you asked him to try doing it and he was so bad he had to ask Gran Gran to do it for him. And then, Gran Gran was so harsh that you cried the first time she finished.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault Dad left so many tangles in my hair!”

“Really? Because I would’ve thought after the stitching disaster, you would’ve known not to ask him for help before Gran Gran anymore.”

Katara only chuckled in response, leaving Sokka to continue on with his work. Unlike his dad, he always made sure he got out each and every knot and tangle before proceeding with the braid, wanting to make the cleanest style he could. Not that it was remarkably easy with Katara’s frizzy hair, but he did the best that he could. His little sister only deserved the best, even when it came to something like a hairstyle.

“Did you practice your bending today?” asked Sokka suddenly. The question was spurred by a random piece of sea debris he found in her hair, but it didn’t change the fact that he was genuinely interested.

“Yeah, I did.” She resisted the urge to nod after one slight movement, likely realizing that the gesture would interrupt what Sokka was doing. “I was trying to make little waves again, but I’m still not very good at it. Sometimes I don’t know if I really deserve to be a waterbender.”

“What are you talking about? Of _course,_ you deserve to be a waterbender, Katara. You’re learning how to use your powers all on your own, it’s not like it’s supposed to be easy. You can’t blame yourself if it takes a little longer. One day, you’re going to be a seriously badass waterbender and you’re going to show those stupid Fire Nation guys who’s boss for us.”

“‘For us’?” Katara frowned, glancing to him over her shoulder. “You’re not coming with me?”

That wasn’t what Sokka meant, but he didn’t know how to tell her the truth. He would go with her, absolutely. There was no way he would ever leave her alone. But he didn’t know how much he could do against the Fire Nation soldiers. Yes, he would put forth his best effort and try to defeat them, but he was just some kid with a boomerang. The odds that he could take down anyone were slim to none.

“Of course, I’m coming with you,” said Sokka quickly. “I would never let you go on your own.”

She didn’t respond, and Sokka was almost grateful. He didn’t know how he could possibly explain how he felt, and he wasn’t sure that he was ready. Instead, he placed the comb down beside him, finally moving on to do the actual braid. He’d done it a thousand times at that point, and it took no effort, his finger gliding through her locks without a moment’s hesitation. He didn’t need to think about what he was doing at all, his thoughts drifting as he let his fingers do the work.

It was relaxing in a familiar sort of way to sit there with his sister, listening to the chatter of their tribe but not engaging with a hint of it. Just sitting with his sister, the world moving around them but time seeming to stop and slow within their little bubble. He was harsh with his movements as he began to braid Katara’s hair, but he wasn’t fast, and he did his best to keep the relaxed vibes. He almost thought they wouldn’t speak again, but he was quickly proven wrong.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you last night,” Katara told him softly. There it was. _That_ was the reason she’d come to him to have her hair done rather than asking Gran Gran or doing it herself. “I didn’t mean anything I said, I was just upset, and I missed Dad. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Maybe she should have. He was the one who made the comments that pissed her off. He was the one who spoke out of line and ruined the whole meal with his negativity and his stupid sarcasm. But Katara didn’t see it like that. She turned around when he failed to respond, not shifting enough to pull her braid from his hands but meeting his gaze over her shoulder. Sokka blinked away, unable to hold it for more than a second.

“It’s okay,” he assured her, hoping his tone didn’t give away the fact that he blamed himself. “I understand. I probably would’ve gotten upset if it was you who said those things too. I was just out of line and you had every right to shout at me for it.”

“No, I didn’t.” She shook her head but only slightly, doing her best not to interrupt as he neared the center of her braid. He tried too hard to make it perfect. If he would just let the details go, he could’ve finished far sooner, and he’d known that for years. He just couldn’t do anything about it. “I know you only said those things because you miss him too, Sokka. Maybe I had the right to get upset, but you have every right to be afraid.”

Sokka immediately moved to respond by telling her that he was not afraid, yet the words wouldn’t leave his mouth. It was too big of a lie for him to tell, too much stretching the truth to the point where it snapped. He let out a sigh, biting down on his lip as he moved forward with the braid. Maybe he did have every right to be afraid. Maybe a fourteen-year-old _shouldn’t_ have the weight of the tribe on his shoulders. Maybe he _did_ need the chance to talk things through.

“Okay,” was the only thing he managed to say. His throat was dry, but he wasn’t sure why; his breath swirling around in the cold air. To most people, the weather would’ve been blindingly freezing, but not to Sokka. He grew up in it, they all did, and it barely fazed him anymore. “I’m not going to say anything like that again, though. I promise. I’ll just— if I have those thoughts, I’ll keep it to myself.”

“You don’t have to do that.” His sister was too kind. Her words were gentle and loving and he didn’t deserve a single one of them. “Like I said, I was just sad last night. If you want to talk about Dad and being worried, it’s okay. I know the women talk about it all the time, with their husbands and everything, I just— it’s really hard sometimes. Being alone.”

“We’re not alone.” Finally, Sokka wrapped the tie around the bottom of Katara’s braid, waiting for her to turn around before he finished his thought. Her blue eyes were wide and expectant when she did so, as if she thought he would say something deep or touching. He didn’t. “We have a whole herd of otter penguins to spend time with us. Who needs humans anyway?”

Katara laughed harder than he heard in days and though he wasn’t sure of the stupid comment at first, Sokka was really glad that he made it. He let himself smile too, ignoring the looks a few people gave him as they walked by, and the kids who tried to ask what they were laughing about. It was stupid, it was silly, but it was such a Sokka joke and both of them appreciated it more than anyone else ever would.

“No, but… you know what I mean, Katara.”

He didn’t have to say the words. He _never_ had to say the words. Verbally, he spoke a goofy joke, but Katara understood everything he meant, and he knew it. She understood the things he didn’t have it in him to say, the sappiness that built up in his brain but refused to run free. Katara only nodded at first to confirm his question, the expression on her face somehow softening even further. He didn’t know what he did to deserve such an incredible sister and even if he somehow found out, he never would’ve changed it.

“Yeah,” she said. “Of course, I do.”


End file.
